Vol. 4, No. 3, March 2007
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Q&A with Curtis Bashaw
Before returning in 2005 to his former role as a prominent Cape May hotelier, Curtis Bashaw reshaped the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. As executive director of CRDA, Bashaw led efforts to re-brand the Jersey Shore as a cohesive tourist destination, and oversaw improvements to Atlantic City that included the Walk retail center and revitalization of the Boardwalk. More recently, Bashaw partnered with former Bally’s chief Wallace Barr on an as-yet-unspecified new casino project for the southwest corner of the Boardwalk, and has forged a new venture to transform the adjacent Holiday Inn and Howard Johnson Boardwalk hotels in the Chelsea neighborhood into an upscale boutique hotel the likes of which have not been seen before in Atlantic City.
Casino Connection Managing Editor Frank Legato talked with Bashaw about his newest plan recently at his Congress Hall hotel in Cape May.
Casino Connection: After you left CRDA, we thought you’d go back to Cape May and become the gentleman hotelier. Instead, you’ve remained involved in Atlantic City. Tell us what you’ve been doing since leaving the CRDA.
Bashaw: The CRDA was really a full-time job for me, and I did spend a great deal of time after leaving the CRDA sort of connecting with my own company both in the New York and Cape May offices. We have continued to work on opportunities to participate in the Atlantic City market, but this time from the private-sector side.
CC: Can you tell us about your latest plan to create a boutique hotel?
Bashaw: We recently closed on the purchase of the Holiday Inn and Howard Johnson, both located on Chelsea Avenue between Pacific and the Boardwalk. Our vision there is to close the hotels after the summer, combine them and renovate them into a 337-room upscale boutique hotel, similar to the Gansevoort in New York, or the W or the Mercer—one of these independent but stylish properties that cater to an upscale market.
CC: This is a new concept for Atlantic City. Will it be comparable to those kinds of hotels in quality?
Bashaw: First of all, we are going to add amenities to this property that will really be top-shelf. There will be a rooftop pool with cabanas, and food and beverage service that will create quite a scene. There will be two awesome bars and restaurants, a spa with 6,000 square feet, bikes, room service, and an excellent concierge. We absolutely think that even though it is a new concept for Atlantic City, it is high time that Atlantic City had this kind of product to round out the offerings that have come to town in the last few years.
CC: We’ve heard that you’ll be working with the Tropicana to dedicate blocks of rooms to its customers. Is that the case?
Bashaw: We have had just very preliminary discussions with the Trop folks. We believe that there is a huge market for this product with or without blocks of rooms being committed to gaming properties.
CC: What kind of room rates do you expect? Is it going to be a step up, a step down?
Bashaw: We are going to have two room types in the property. The Holiday Inn has a pretty large tower on top of the parking decks, and those rooms will be at the top of the market—sort of a Four-Star product—and they will be priced that way. The Howard Johnson’s rooms we are going to call the Cabana Rooms, and they will be more of a mid-market product that will cater to younger folks and people who want to be on the Boardwalk and in town with a fun, hip, vibey product that they won’t have to break the bank to stay in.
CC: There’s a small ballroom in the Holiday Inn right now. Will you go after small meetings and conferences?
Bashaw: We will have a ballroom and meeting space, and will continue to do meetings, weddings and conferences at the facilities. We expect to grow this business. We think it is an important business for the mid-week as well as the wedding business, which will really be a wonderful thing on weekends. We have done a ton of weddings in Cape May at Congress Hall. We do over 70 a year, and we are expecting to take that franchise also to Atlantic City.
CC: Do you expect to work with the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority?
Bashaw: Absolutely. You know their work is essential in our view to the long-term health of Atlantic City as a resort destination, and we look forward very much to working with them.
CC: Do you think this may provide a spark for others to get involved in Boardwalk properties?
Bashaw: The Boardwalk is Atlantic City’s Strip. It is an international icon, and to me it’s the obvious place to be. I’m sure others will feel that way as well, and we will see a real energy come to the Boardwalk over the next few years.
CC: Is the market ready for more non-gaming hotels?
Bashaw: Atlantic City is ripe for new hotels. We could double or triple the inventory of rooms in my view, and not make a dent in the demand. The gaming facilities are adding hotel rooms, but they reserve most of their rooms for their rated players, and now that we have all this new slew of amenities from restaurants to entertainment to clubs to shopping, it is not easy, on a weekend in particular, for a person who is not a rated player to just call up and get a room. So we absolutely think there is room for non-gaming properties.
CC: How do you view Atlantic City in terms of new competition from Pennsylvania and New York?
Bashaw: I am a firm believer that critical mass and location are everything. Atlantic City has been a resort for 100 years. We have 11 casinos we have a 30-year head start on these other gaming districts, and fortunately, we have a tax rate in New Jersey that encourages capital investment. These other jurisdictions are adding slot machines, and absolutely there will be a short-term impact, but as the population expands, as gaming becomes more acceptable as an amenity to a full-body vacation, we are going to see some of these new regional gaming jurisdictions really serve as a feeder market for us. So I am confident that if we do our jobs well in making sure that Atlantic City is an all-around destination, we will see continued growth and prosperity.
CC: Where do you see Atlantic City in five or 10 years?
Bashaw: I really think Atlantic City is going to reclaim its rightful place as a world-class resort. It was a resort for 100 years before it was a gaming town, and I think we are coming right back at it. If you look at the history of places like South Beach or places like Las Vegas, they went through a time that was less than world-class, and both of those places have been very tenacious in rebuilding their image and seeing growth. All of those sign posts are there for Atlantic City. The fundamentals are in place, and we believe Atlantic City is going to claim its place again as one of the world’s great destinations in the next 10 years.
